BELATED HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Sorry! I am a day late. So Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours.

Mine was absolutely one of the best Valentine's I have ever had. It started on Wednesday when I decorated my husband's office, like I do every year. I think I showed you his office last year in a post. It was a great job with pictures from our lives plastered all over his office. I was afraid I could not top last year. Everyone was impressed on how great it was.

So.....this year I even thought about not decorating his office, but then I was afraid everyone at work would think something was wrong. After all, I do it every year and I didn't want them thinking we had marital problems, especially when we don't have any!

Anyway, I started putting up some small Valentine cards I had and strung a string of lights across one wall with some tinsel garland of red. As I was decorating I began to think of ways I could possibly make a great day of Valentine's. I had an empty Italian bottle of wine and stuck a candle in it. Then the day began to take shape. I left him a note with instructions that he was to start the music CD I had for him as a present. It is Chris Botti, Italia. Then at 11:30 I would bring lunch to his office for us to share.

The next day, promptly at 11:30, I arrived with my ice chest and card table in tow. He helped me get everything in and set up. We put up the card table and set it with a red tablecoth and the wine bottle candle. I had brought plates and silverware and my crystal glasses. I had baked potatoes, ribeye steak and salad. I had prepared chocolate covered strawberries. When we were ready, Delores (co-worker in the office next door) came by to ohhh and ahh on what we were having for lunch. We lit the candle and turned out the lights so only the candle and string of lights were on and closed the door! We sat and listened to Chris Botti and talked quietly, enjoying our lunch. It was so relaxing. Delores was given instructions by me to turn anyone away that came toward Tollie's office. She left for lunch and put a large note on Tollie's door "Do Not Distub".

I received a dozen red roses and a message in a bottle. I cried when I read the message.

I can't tell you how relaxing and fun the lunch was. Tollie kept thanking me for the wonderful meal. I had also prepared Lemon Lush for dessert. It was great! So, we both had a wonderful time. I laugh because I think it was partly the secrecy with the door closed that made it so fun! Everyone at his work was jealous.

Later in the afternoon, I received an e-mail from Delores stating that it was so sweet to hear Tollie bragging to his friends on the phone how special the lunch was. She said she was not eaves dropping, but she couldn't help overhearing him. He was talking real loud because he was so excited. That made me smile.

I really had ulterior motives! Usually we go out to eat or eat a big meal at home in the evening and then too full to enjoy a night in bed! (if you know what I mean!) But this time, we had our big meal during lunch so last night was a wonderful time! (if you know what I mean)

I hope you had a great Valentine's. Mine was exceptional!

HERE IT IS!

Well, here is the final project! Again, it is hard to tell much about it in a picture. So......if you are ever in my area of Beaumont, Texas, drop on by and I will be happy to show it to you in person. I am very happy with it. I am a little disappointed that after framing and putting it under glass that you can't see the bead work as well. But, I still believe that it is best to put it under the glass to protect it from dirt. I am not sure I will leave it above the fireplace, but that is the best place for now. We plan to get a light to put on it or actually below it to shine up. That may help the beadwork.

Now, on to other projects! It never ends. There is never enough time!

CROSS STITCHING

As I said in the previous post, I love to cross stitch. Some people say that working on something like this project would drive them crazy and they would become so impatient. Not me. It is soothing to me. I love to sit and cross stitch and watch old movies, or new movies, if they are worth watching!

Here is the finished project.
The cutwork was scary to say the least.
As you can see in the border where the ties are in the middle of tied off strings. If you compare with the previous post, the area where there is blank white around the picture! Anyway, it was scary to actually cut threads of the project and pull them out and then tie off the remaining threads to make the open triangles. It will look really cool with a bright color (yellowish) coming through the cutwork.

Someone at work asked me why the alphabet and numbers on it. What is the significance? This is a sampler. Years ago, young, "proper" women would learn to stitch and sew. They made samplers with many different types of stitches. It was a test to see how well they had learned to stitch. They would use the alphabet and numbers and figures to show off their skill.


The gate was different in that you stitched over one stitch instead of two and it was so close.


Below, is a close up of the top portion. I love the way the project suddenly gets depth as you work the outlining. It is like a painting that suddenly pops and then you see the dimensions and feel a part of the painting. It is my way of doing art.



I still can't believe it is finished. After 12 years of working on this project, to have it finished, is......well let's just say I miss an ole friend!

It is now at the framer's, being framed. I said I was going to spend big bucks on having it framed and yes, I am spending big bucks! It cost a little more than I expected, but I think the finished product will be exquisite. It was hard to choose the frame, the mats, do I go with a filler or just the mats, do I go green or purple. I went with the green mat and gold colored mat under the green. The frame is really large and big and bold and beautiful. I don't like the gold glitzy type of frames but this comes close. It is rustic and compliments it very well. The purple mat looked very good with the finished project but the green did something better.....it made it pop. I love to look at how changing the mats can make a project look so different, in just a split second of changing them out. Color is an amazing gift of God's.

I really wish you could see the finished project in person instead of on line. It does not do it justice on here. I have taken some close ups of some of the areas but really you have to see the whole thing to really appreciate all the different stitches and colors and beads.

I had planned to hang it above my fireplace in the den, but I'm not so sure any more. It may be too big to fit there and it may be too far away -- too high up to really appreciate the work. So....I will have to play with it in several areas to see how it looks. When I get it hung and found just the right place for it, I will post a picture of it hanging and give you the full effect of it.

Again, if you are in my area of Southeast Texas, come on by and see it in person. It will be worth the trip!

PROJECTS

I have been working on a cross stitch project for years.....I'm talking 12 years on and off. I fell in love with this one and started it, thinking it would take a while but never dreamed it would be that long! I am not finished as of yet, but almost. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can taste the honey of victory! I probably have another couple of weeks to work on it and I will be done! The scary part is that the last thing you do is put a border around it that involves cutting the material!

You heard me.....cutting the fabric! Wow, I know I have dreaded that. After all this time of work and the last thing you do could destroy the whole project! But I am gaining confidence as I finish it up.

Here is the project in process. I have only a small area under the top peacock to work on and then the cut work around the whole thing. I will definitely post a picture of the finished product, framed and hanging, but I wanted to share with you what I am doing in my spare time right now.

I do mean every spare minute is spent working on this project. I told Tollie after Christmas that it was my goal to get this finished before starting any other project! He has understood and is patiently watching me work hard to finish it. I think he is as ready (or maybe even more ready) for me to finish it.

HERE IT IS!



You really cannot appreciate all the work that is going into this, unless you cross stitch. This one has lots of cross stitch stitches and beads and unusual threads to work in and then the cutwork. I just wish the picture would reveal more of the story. If you want to really see how beautiful it is turning out, come on by and I will proudly show it off!

I pray you have had wonderful Holiday Times! We certainly have.

We had a relatively quiet Christmas and even quieter New Years. Ours was spent at home with our oldest daughter and her family coming for Christmas lunch. Jamie had been given a spiral ham from her school so we had that with yams, green beans, crescent rolls and fruit salad. Relatively easy lunch but oh so yummy!

For New Year's, Tollie and I had planned a party at our house with old friends we eat lunch with every Sunday, but alas, Tollie had a cold and was not feeling really good. In fact, on Sunday, he went to church, but he really should have stayed home. I tried to get him to stay home, but he insisted he needed to go. We had a long nap on Sunday and then Monday we watched movies. Actually, Tollie built my shelf for the hallway, where I plan to put my pitchers. I have many pitchers of various colors and shapes. I have wanted a better place to put them, and the shelf is working out great. He cut it and painted it and then put it up, while watching movies in between cuts. I watched many of my chick flicks, like The Notebook, where I cry every time. I try not to, but it makes me cry anyway. Tollie said he didn't want to watch that one, but found himself drawn in as well and ended up sitting on the couch and crying as well.

While watching the movies, (others like Catch Me if You Can, Shall We Dance?) I cross stitched on my project I have been working on for over 10 years. It is a sampler of an English Garden with peacocks. It is very detailed and I am determined to finish it before starting any other project. Actually, I have been working on crocheting an afgan which is turning out very pretty, but I didn't get enough yarn. Of course when I went back to Hobby Lobby to get more, they are out. So.....I am waiting for them to get more in. It is their brand of yarn so I will wait.

We ended up watching Superman, The Return later on New Year's Eve and after it was over, we went to Fuddrucker's to get a hamburger and shake. I watched the ball come down on TV while Tollie slept in the lounge chair. He had taken some cold medicine and was sleeping good. I woke him about 11:30 and we went to bed.

Jamie and Paul came over again on New Year's Day and had lunch with us. Paul and the girls got out and played soccer and we just visited. The girls ended up staying overnight with us and Paul picked them up today about noon so I could come to work.

Here I am, at work, typing my blog. My boss is at a doctor's appointment and because of the holidays, I have very little to do. I am trying to catch up on my filing.

I pray you have a great 2008. I am looking forward to this year. I have no resolutions, because I cannot keep them. However, I am trying to start off right by reading a daily Bible passage and exercise regularly. We'll see how long it lasts this year! :)

Hopefully, you have thoughts which will becomes your dreams and your dreams will become reality before the end of 2008.

YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS

Well, you all know I am from Texas and here is proof. Where else can you cut roses like these from your own backyard in December?

I tell you I cut these roses from my one and only rose bush this past week and have enjoyed the smell of fresh roses in my house all week........couple of weeks before Christmas!!!!

This is my favorite rose bush. Tollie and I had visited Tyler Rose Garden many years back and found this rose bush to be our favorite there. So, I bought one for myself and have had some pretty roses before, but none as pretty as this year, nor this late! It is a Heart o' Gold Rosebush and I love the roses and the smell. Hard to find a good rose that smells good now a days with so much of the propagating they do. So.....enjoy my rose. I certainly am enjoying it.

These are the same roses several days later and how full they are now. Still enjoying them.

OUR SOLDIER

Here is our Soldier! Paul is a wonderful young man and we are very proud of him. Thank you, Lord, for his safety and heart to help keep our families safe!

At this time, he is in training and we thank the Lord that he should not have to be deployed......at this time. We will trust timing will be in the Lord's hands.

GRADUATION ~ THANKSGIVING

Patriotism was high that day at the graduation. A feeling of knowing that my son-in-law (who really is more my son than my son-in-law) was a part of something much bigger than us. It was a proud day. Of course we had not seen Paul since the last of July and here we were able to see him, but could not talk to him or even touch him......yet!
For those of you who do not know Paul, he is in the third row and second one from the left. He looked much different as he has lost about 30 pounds and has no hair! But handsome he is!!!!!
The little girls were thrilled to see their daddy! Ashton saw him when he first came in and started crying. She could not quit crying all during the graduation. She thought he was different and we think she thought he didn't love her because he could not say anything to her! It was very emotional for all of us. Emma kept trying to find him and I finally put her on my lap and pointed with her to count the men and she could find him. Her whole body relaxed when she saw him! It was a special moment. Of course Paul was suppose to be looking forward and not looking around. But when he saw us and saw that Emma saw him, he could not help but grin! We spent the day on Wednesday, after graduation with Paul. He could not leave the base and so we spent some time at the PX, eating and talking and walking the aisles. Later we went to the van and drove around base, seeing all the different places Paul had been during his training. At one point, we parked in an elementary school parking lot and napped and played with the girls while in the van. It was a dreary day outside and getting colder by the minute. We tried to go bowling but no lanes were open. There was really very little to do on base. I think the military keeps the guys on base so the families will spend money at the PX!!!! After all, when shopping is all you can, why not? Many soldiers and families were carrying stuff out by the basket full. It was a long, but fun day!
For Thanksgiving Day, Paul was able to leave the base. We picked him up and went to Grandmother and Granddaddy's house for Thanksgiving. It was a special day. Lots of family and a friend from the base went with us. Kris wanted us to drop him off at the mall in Elizabethtown. We were not sure the mall was going to open so we talked him into going with us to Summer Shade. He agreed and we had a great day with family. It was a special time and Grandmother was so happy we had brought Kris along.

While we were eating that evening, back in Elizabethtown, two ladies came by our table and thanked Paul and Kris for their part in serving our Country. It made Tollie and I tear up! It was a very special time. Later, Paul told us on Friday when he and about five others flew to South Carolina for their specialty training to start, a man laid down money on the table where they were eating and said thanks, leaving $50.00 for them to use to buy their meal. These times have been most touching to me.
We had such a good time at Grandmother and Granddaddy's. We played in the leaves, rode the tractor and spent some down time before going on to the graduation. Of course all of us were anxious to get to Elizabethtown and to the graduation!!!!
Riding the tractor thrilled the girls. They loved being outside and wanted to walk in the woods. The colors of fall were everywhere. Grandmother said that about two weeks ago was the peak time but we still had plenty of ahhhh moments when we would spot the brillant yellows and reds of the leaves in and amongst the trees. Many trees had already lost their leaves and were naked but there were still some shedding. It was a beautiful site.
Jamie and the girls spent a lot of time outside. It was cool but not cold. It did not get really cold until Thursday night. Friday morning packing the van was really cold! But we were happy as we had seen Paul and spent two days with him.

Here is the whole family with Kris included on the right at the back! (Actually, Jamie and Paul had already left to spend some alone time in Elizabethtown.) We will try to superimpose them in another picture and I will post it later. It was a happy day.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR DAY AS MUCH AS WE DID!

VISITS

Thanks Dee, for dropping by. I didn't see any of your answers here! I guess maybe that is why I haven't been back, because I don't have the answers yet, either. I keep mulling them over in my mind and haven't come up with anything profound yet!

But I am still here, just not writing much these days. I will have a lot to write about when I return from the Thanksgiving holidays. And who knows, I may have some answers to my questions at that time.

We are going to Kentucky to my son-in-law's boot camp graduation at Ft. Knox. It will be a momentous occasion for all of us and we will get to see our daughter from Missouri. The wife of the graduate and their two kids will be traveling with us and a bonus is seeing some of Tollie's family since they only live about 1 1/2 hours from Ft. Knox. We plan to go there for Turkey Day lunch, although we will have to leave the graduate family at Ft. Knox as Paul will not be allowed to leave the base. He ships out on Friday morning to South Carolina and they plan to spend all the time they can with him. The little girls and their mother, Jamie have not seen Paul since the end of July. It will be a joyous day in the Goebel family.

I do request prayers for safe travels. See you after Thanksgiving! I pray you all have a happy Turkey Day as well.

QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS

I was cleaning today and began to ponder. That is dangerous, I know. My pondering led me to some questions I have had for some years now. I really don't expect many to respond to these questions, because I don't think I have that many who read my blog. I find I have some lurkers and that is okay. But I really, really need some help in defining these questions and answering those that can be answered.

You see, I don't believe that some of these questions can be answered by mere mortals. I believe we live in a society which does not understand the spiritual world and therefore, may have opinions on these questions, but no real answers. Now, I could be wrong. I would like to think that there are answers to these questions, but so far I have not found any. So........here goes.

Does God "make" things happen, such as hurricanes, tornados, death of a person, etc.?

Does God "care about" my everyday happenings? In other words, does God really care if wear a certain dress or if I read a book or go to the store at a particular time?

Does God answer prayers directly or generically?

Does God give people burdens contrary to his teaching?

Does God change his mind?

If you have an answer or an opinion on any of these questions, please help me by posting a response. I honestly desire to have some discussion on these.

Notice I said discussions, no arguments and no pat answers, but deep thought out discussions that look at all angles.

Oh, have a great day in the Lord! :)

TWO YEARS AGO......ALREADY?!?

Yes, it was two years ago today that Hurricane Rita came for a visit in Southeast Texas. That was a busy hurricane year, also giving us Katrina and many others. I think there were 17 or 18 named hurricanes that year. It was a busy year and we profited finacially from her. (Government stipend and insurance money) She did little damage and we came out smelling like a rose......unlike others here and too many in New Orleans!

Today, we are looking at the Gulf once again because there is another disturbance out there coming our way. They assure us it will only give us rain and should not become a named storm by the time it hits. Of course that is what they said a couple of weeks back when Humberto was just a tropical depression and he came ashore as a Category 1 hurricane in a few days. I have to admit that was an unusual incidence but it reminds me, that with all our technology, we can see that God is still in control. He puts nature in motion and I don't care what type of technology we have, we can not out guess or out smart God and nature.

Do I believe that God caused Katrina (or put any name inserted here) to happen to New Orleans because he wanted to turn them from their sins? Or teach them a lesson? No.....but I do believe that he puts nature in motion and consequences from that nature occur naturally. Could God cause an Humberto? Yes....does he, I'm not so certain. I believe God has power to do whatever he wants, but I don't think his nature would cause him to purposely harm his people to show them a lesson.

I have written and re-written many paragraphs here and deleted them all because I am so uncertain of the direction I want these questions to go. I do have many questions. Does God work directly with storms and nature to control or discipline me? If that is the case, would he use an act of nature such as a storm for just me when it affects so many people? How could that be? I am not that important. So, no I do not believe that. But how does God work directly with me? Through me? These are questions that I have had and about the time I believe I have an answer, my answer changes. Circumstances change and then I start over with the questions. I have far more questions than I have answers.

Have a great day! Now, mine is full of questions and I will mull them over.

WHY CAN'T WE PLAY NICE?

I was reading my blogs this morning and I am distressed now.

Reading Mike Cope's blog, I understand where he is coming from and appreciate his concerns. However, it brings up more distress in me and why we can't all get along nicely.

Mike mentioned in his blog that “This Message is From Churches of Christ” was said by a well known radio/TV presenter. Mike's contention is that this person seems to be speaking for all Churches of Christ and in most cases he is not. Especially in this case since it has to do with women in the church.

What got me was some of the responses to that post. It has become a most silent shouting match.

I have not responded there, but will respond here. My problem is the mindset by many in the Churches of Christ. {We are "The Church" -- just like the church in the first century and if you are not doing it just like we are, then you are wrong.} The biggest problem with this mindset is that if they looked closely at the scriptures and compared tit for tat, they would find they are no more like the first century than the man in the moon! How can they? Lifestyles are different, the world is a different place. God's word is the same as always, I know that.

The other problem is where you draw the line on Gospel and scripture. All Gospel is scripture, but not all scripture is Gospel.

Now don't crucify me for that last sentence. Not every word in the Bible is Gospel. The Gospel is a person, not scripture and not words in a book. Gospel is the truth of Jesus and him crucified. It is the person of Jesus Christ. When we bank what we do in the two hours we meet on Sunday morning on this concept, then it all falls into place and it doesn't matter that I worship differently than you do. It doesn't matter that I have classrooms for Sunday School in my building. It doesn't matter that I allow all races and colors of people to attend my worship service. It doesn't matter that a woman is reading a scripture or playing a keyboard while I worship! Just that I worship Jesus!

Well, I did respond there. I even added this paragraph.

I have heard it said "The Church of Christ" is not a denomination. That is so far from the truth. We may not have a board of directors or pope to dictate rules, but we certainly seem to have a set of rules many think we should follow!

ME, MYSELF AND I

I was up until about 1:30 last night reading a particular blog. When I went to bed, I was praying that God would give me the courage, strength and wisdom to be more like the person whose blog I was reading.

Let me explain more in detail. I came across this particular blog through another blog. I have found some interesting reading on blogs by linking to other blogs through blogs I read on a regular basis. I am purposely not mentioning the blog as of yet, because I have not talked with this person and not sure I want to confide in who she is.......yet.

However, let me say she is a person I would like to meet, talk with and feel comfortable that she would welcome my descriptions and explanations here. But until I actually know this, I am not comfortable with revealing this blog.

She was in a discussion about some very controversial topics. One in particular that interest me and I have to say I have never read a blog so controversial that did not turn ugly. I think that is partly what intrigued me. Each person that responded to the blog with comments was welcomed with open arms and honesty through this person. I believe, had I commented (which I did not), I would have felt completely welcomed and wanted, no matter what I said. There were those who were diametrically opposed to what was being said, there were those in total agreement and a lot of in between. But each person was responded to with grace and love. I think that is what was so exceptional about this blog. Nobody had all the answers! What a novel thought. There was really only one or two people who I thought believed they had the "right" answer and everyone else seemed to have questions, thoughts but no "right" answers, just opinions.

The whole experience caused a community of dialogue that was intriguing to the say the least.

I think what intrigued me the most was the fact that I want to be loved by people. I want people to respect me and search me out for answers. But I think in this experience of last night I realized I don't have answers and probably never will and by openly suggesting that might cause people to search me out! Does any of this make any sense? I'm sure it does not to you, because it doesn't make a whole of lot sense to me! But that is why I am blogging about this right now. I want to ferret out what was intriguing about it, what about it that I want to emulate and what I can learn from the experience.

Have you ever had an experience where you were so enamored with some one's ability to deal with people and topics and had a way with words that you wanted that?!? This is where I am today.

WHILE WE SLEPT

Well, we went to bed last night thinking that TROPICAL STORM HUMBERTO would pass through the night.

Humberto did pass through but not as a tropical storm, as HURRICANE HUMBERTO. Just before landfall just east of High Island, Humberto strengthened to a category 1 hurricane. Imagine our surprise this morning to find that out. We are fine, no damage, no problems. Just lots of rain and wind last night which kept us from sleeping soundly, especially when our touch lamps come on when the electricity coughs! But we have never lost power completely. Jamie, who lives in Sour Lake, a mere 18 miles to the west of us barely had rain and hardly any wind. Speaking of Jamie............


HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHTON!!!!!!!!

Our first grandchild is 7 years old today. How can that be? Where did the time go? Her mother was just born........
..yesterday? Something has happened here beyond my explanation!

Ashton is such a beautiful, fun and loving child. She is so smart and can read like I don't know how to describe! She is gifted in arts as well. She would like to be an artist when she grows up. Ash and I went to Olive Garden on Monday evening to celebrate her birthday early. We had to go early because she wanted to experience the same as last year, just me and her going to Olive Garden. She would not hear of any others going with us. So......how could this Piggy refuse!?! At Olive Garden she was working on the child's menu and doing a word find of Italian artist. We had fun with the names such as Bernini, Bottecello, Caravaggio. When we got back home, we went to the internet to look up these artists to see what they had painted. Some of them were scuptors and we had fun looking at their talents. Later Ashton told me she would marry someone with inini and then she would be Artist Berninini and be famous one day. You have to admit, the girl has dreams!!!!!

Hope you have a great day and enjoy the sunshine where you are. We are suppose to have sunshine later today, in fact it is clearing now and the brightening with each hour!

BEING POOR MAKES YOU SMART!

First let me say, we are not poor! And I know that we could be much worse off than we are.

I have wanted to put down new flooring in my house for several years now. I started planning on doing this right after Rita made a visit to our town in 2005. We had extra money from insurance and the government because of Rita and I was looking at doing it then, but.......Mindy wanted to get married. Do you hear a sucking sound?Shurllllllllp! There went the extra money.

About a month ago, we started getting bids on flooring and looking at tile, carpet and making some decisions. Of course, in planning out what would be best, we decided if we were going to remodel the bathroom with a walk-in shower, it would be prudent to do it first, then the floor.
In the meantime, we planned a trip to Corsicana and I went to get the van inspected and Shurlllllllllp! Do you hear sucking again? After new tires, brakes, rotors, we were down again with no extra money!

We had already bought tile for the laundry room back in the spring, thinking we could do it ourselves. In fact, on a trip to Missouri with my daughter and grand daughters, I thought I would be surprised to find a new floor down whilst I was gone! No..........a new office instead!

So, with Labor Day coming and all, what better time to do labor! I decided it was work time. I cleaned out the laundry room on Friday and went shopping to get some tools. They have some really neat tools at Lowe's, a dangerous place to go when you want something! Anyway, a paint brush, Rotozip spiral saw and scrapers in the bag, I was ready to start labor! I came home thinking I might have the old vinyl out by the time Tollie got home from work! Yeah right! I started, but that was as far as I got. It was going to be hard work. We thought of several things to try and low and behold, the new Rotozip tool had a part missing. So.....Saturday morning, we got up early (at least early for Saturday morning) and went to McD's to eat and back to Lowe's. We got home and started working! Scraping, scraping, scraping. These pictures are of our grand daughters helping us.





They were having a good time. I told Tollie we might be arrested for abusing child labor laws, but they wanted to do it. It took all day Saturday to get the old vinyl out and then we had to start scraping on the old adhesive. There were places it just would not come up. Tollie finally got his drill and "sanded" them down to the concrete. It burned up his cheap drill. (Christmas present idea!)

Sunday we planned to eat lunch after church and then back to Lowe's to get more supplies and exchange some things. But after lunch it was raining so hard, we came home and napped! We finished the cleanup of the concrete Sunday night and knew Monday morning we would begin laying tile. Got it all laid except for the ones needing to be cut around the perimeter of the room.

Jamie called about noon and wanted us to go shopping with the them for Ashton's birthday and we needed to get a wheel for the new tool to cut the tile. They came about 3:00 and we all went to eat, shop and get the new wheel. We came home and starting cutting. As you can see in these pictures, the dust was flying!








Then last night, I put down the grout and voila, we have a new floor!



I am sore and tired and have a numb little finger on the left hand and a blister on the right.




My biggest disappointment!?! What is missing in this picture?



The moral to the story is this: When you don't have a lot of extra money, you tend to learn how to do things you never thought you would do. And you keep planning because you realize it was not as hard as it looked and the end result is great!

SCHOOL STARTS TODAY

Tollie and I went to Sour Lake (about 25 miles) to see our grand daughters before they went to school today and help get them to their classes.

Ashton, pictured here with her backpack, is starting first grade today.








Emma, pictured here, is starting kindergarten today.




The reason we went to Sour Lake today is that their dad is in boot camp in Ft. Knox, Kentucky and can't be there to take them their first day. So....we stepped in and helped mom get them to school and be there to take pictures of their first day.

It is so special to be part of this and get to be there for this special time in their lives. It is my job to relay all the details, fine details as best I an to their dad and send pictures for his enjoyment. He believes today and September 13th, Ashton's 7th birthday, will be two of the hardest days for him, while his is away. He wants to be there and would be, if he could.

Please pray of all of them and I will give a report tomorrow after I talk with Ashton and Emma this evening to find out how their first day of school went today. They were both excited and nervous and scared.....but ready to begin this new adventure.

I like how they see each year a new adventure. I wish I could see more of life as an adventure and be more engaged at times. I am working on doing this. Have a great day today, the first day of what ever event in your life!!!

AT WORK

I am at work today. I only work four days a week and I only work half days at that! Pretty cool, huh? I am the executive assistant to the owner of the company my husband works with. Mr. Ruddy is the President and CEO of SETCA which stands for Southeast Texas Classic Automotive. My husband, Tollie is the IT man for the company and goes to all the different dealerships when they have computer problems. There are three dealerships here in Beaumont, the same town where we live and two dealerships with many car lines in Mid County which is only about 30 minutes away in Port Arthur. Then we have a dealership in Tyler which has two car lines and several used car lots. All in all, we have Chevrolet, Acura, Saturn, Nissan, Kia, Buick, Honda, Pontiac, GMC, Toyota, Mercedes Benz and had Oldsmobile until it was discontinued. So you see we have many lines of cars to choose from.

My husband, Tollie, has worked for the Ruddys for 35 years now. There was a short period of time back in 1997 where he worked for part of the company that split up and bought out other parts and then he went back to work for the Ruddy's. They are good people and I started working for them in 2000 when I was the Acura Parts Manager. Tollie had been in the parts end of the business for years and when that department needed someone, he suggested that I could do it. I did it for 2 1/2 years and loved it. The only problem was the timing. Being a grandmother and being the only person in parts, I was tied to the job to strongly. I could not take off to go see my grandchildren as much as I liked. About the time I decided to retire, my children moved to the area. But I went ahead and retired. About 1 1/2 years later when the job came open again, I strongly thought about going back to doing the job again. I really did enjoy the parts end and keeping everything straight and tidy and ordering parts and selling parts. My biggest hang up in the whole job was not knowing car engines all that well. But I was learning and learning fast. I trained the person that is there now. I have "filled" in when necessary and will continue to help them when needed. Then I started working in the corporate office helping Mr. Ruddy with special projects.....like his family genealogy and family calendars. When his executive assistant quit, I was asked if I wanted to work with him part time. I hesitated only because he has a hard time keeping a person working for him. But I said I would give it a try, only if they promised to be honest and let me go if it did not work out. I have been doing this now for almost a year. I like the fact that I can work four days a week only and the fact that I am only here half days.

Mr. Ruddy's health is declining somewhat and he doesn't get to the office until about noon. So it makes sense to only be here when he is here. Of course, right now he is here and I am doing my blog because I have nothing much else to do. I can always continue to work on his genealogy but I tire of that easily since I have hit a brick wall and can't seem to get past his great grandparents.

I am hoping to write a booklet on his family and genealogy at some point and I really guess I better close this and get started on that, before I get fired!

Have a great day.

PARENTS SETTLED IN

My parents are finally settling in. We went to Corsicana this weekend to check on them and found them to be settling in and doing much better. "WE" included me, my husband and my daughter and two grand daughters. We had a good time and I was glad we went. My mother and dad really enjoyed our being there.

Please pray for my son-in-law, Paul. He is in boot camp for the National Guard Reserves and separated his shoulder....for the second time. This is not looking good. I am concerned on several levels and I ask that you pray for him, his family, their future plans and ask God to give them wisdom.

BIG BIRTHDAY!

Tomorrow is my hubby's b-day. He is over the hump of 55 and sliding down the hill at 56 tomorrow!!! Who would have thought it? Can we possibly be in our mid 50's? So soon? I mean it seems like yesterday we just got married? Where did the time go? I vaguely remember the highlights, much less the details!

Why is it, that as you get older, the time goes faster? It gets harder to remember the little things and you find yourself past where you thought you were!

Wow! I have to lighten up today! My g-kids are coming in a few minutes and I will be taking care of them while J goes to the doctor. Don't want to get too deep.

I do want to say Happy Birthday to my friend, my companion of 37 years, my lover, my deepest confidant and the most humble, sweetest and caring person I have every known in my life.

I have to take better care of myself so I can be with him and certainly take better care of him to let him know that I love him deeply.

Our plan for his birthday? I don't know, how about breakfast in bed, a little "nuggie" and then.............

cruising in our '72 Olds Cutlass Convertible in the August Hot Nights Cruise in our town. Sounds pretty good to me. Have a great day, because I know we are going to have one.

HARD WEEK

This has been a hard week. On Monday, Paul left for boot camp. Paul is our son-in-law and he joined the Texas Army National Guard Reserves last fall. Originally, he planned to go to boot camp this summer, continue teaching and then go to his speciality training next summer. Then it changed that he was going to boot camp the end of May and then to training sometime later in the fall. He couldn't go then, even though they went the whole nine yards of saying goodbyes in Houston, but he had hurt his ankle and they postponed his going until he was checked out. He had the ankle checked out and all was fine so Tuesday was ship out date #2.

Monday was an especially hard day for Emma. She had her pre-op visit for having her tonsils out next week. They took blood from her arm and mom "forgot" to tell her they would do that--Very Traumatic! They came back to my house after that and played and waited for Dad and I to come home. We left work about 4 pm and I cooked supper. We all ate and then said goodbyes. Let me tell you, that was very difficult.

Of course we are all crying and wailing by the time Dad and Paul left to go to Houston. Dad took Paul so that Jamie did not have to make that drive by herself. It was heart wrenching. Those girls love their daddy and their daddy loves them!!! I did my part by trying to change the subject and distract them as best I could--all the while crying myself! Finally, Emma had to go to the bathroom and I took her and talked about swimming in the pool. That seemed to calm her down and the three of us, me and Ashton and Emma got in the pool and played.

Jamie, of course, had just as hard of a time. Part of the problem is that for the next nine weeks, they cannot see each other. Paul will be in Ft. Knox, Kentucky for his boot camp. We will all go there the end of September for his graduation. He then leaves from there to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland where he will get his speciality training. He will be there until about January 3rd. He does get 10 days off at Christmas which will help and probably will be able to catch flights home occasionally on the weekends. It is going to be a long fall and winter for these girls!

I have had so many ask me why Paul joined up at this time! Didn't he know that there was a war going on? I have asked myself that question often, but I realized something the other day. I am proud of him for wanting to keep his family safe! He was told when he signed up that "more than likely" he will not be going to Iraq. He was told he probably would be doing border patrol! I guess that could be, but at any rate, he will not be able to go anywhere until after all his training, so maybe, just maybe, things will be different in 2008! We will just wait and see what the Lord has in store for him. I am still proud of his wanting to keep our way of life intact for us.

I know that money had some lure and the fact that Paul loves the physical training. He use to be a weight lifter years ago and loves to run and keep in shape. I know that was a lot of it. Of course the fact they had a large sign on bonus helped as well. I think it will give Paul a purpose and time to decide whether he wants to continue teaching or not. He didn't really like teaching Spanish and probably will not go back to doing that. I just know he is a special person and will find where his work heart lives!

I just ask that if you read this, you pray for him and his family!